We Few
by MadAsMoriarty
Summary: This is basically just Avengers: Endgame feels. There is no discernible plot.


Natasha stared out over the stillness of the lake, the air around her filled with quiet grief. There is no weeping or wailing. She can hear the birds singing, like the day is mundane. Normal. But you can taste the sadness, feel it like a caress. Even where she is, on the outskirts of what is known, she is not unaffected. She cannot tap into the raw grief on the faces of the people around her, but she can feel her own quiet sort of melancholy.

"It won't be like this." his voice breaks the stillness, almost chipper. She doesn't bother to turn, though she feels one eyebrow curl. "The public ceremony. It'll be much more of a party. Booze, dancing." he says it like its a defence. "I wonder if Pepper will spring for the girls? Just for old times sake." He takes a step up beside her, there shoulders not touching but sharing space.

"Hey Tony." She greets, tilts her head and quirks her mouth. He grunts and she can see the vague line of him staring at the water by their feet. He's dressed impeccably in a steel toned vest and his usual thick sunglasses. The sleeves of his button down have been rolled to the elbow and she can see a spider web of white scars networking across his right arm and down to the tips of his rough fingers. An afterimage of the damage the Stones inflicted. She takes a moment to wonder if her own body bears the marks of her death before flicking the thought away. It hardly matters.

"You checked in on Barton yet?" He squares up in front of her suddenly, his eyes still fixed on the middle distance.

"Have you checked on Morgan?" She parries, her voice not hard enough to make it a challenge. He jerks in a shrug and skips his eyes along the lake like a stone. They can both feel his daughter sitting on the porch behind them but neither turns to look. Tony's fingers drum against his sternum.

"I'll get to it- I'm not gonna..." He trails off, his fingers stilling with a final tap. Natasha smiles and moves forward to loop her arm through his.

"Pepper's not going to hire girls to dance at your funeral Tony."

He lets out all the air that's not in his body anymore and leans into her.

"Yeah, you're probably right. That's a good call." Their eyes finally meet and both are smiling. "Hey Tasha."

"Tony." She greets again her smile going that smallest bit more genuine. His own flares in response before he drops it and his eyes to the ground.

"I'm sorry about the…" He gestures at her whole body and they start to move together across the browning lawn, circling closer to the gathered mourners. Not quite daring to go close enough.

"I'm not." She counters and smiles again at the momentary shock on his face. "I died _for_ something. For some_one_. And it was on my own terms." She shrugged. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Even if Clint hates me for it." Her voice catches on the last word and her throat burns. She can't quite be sad, in this strange in between place, it's as if her body has forgotten how. But she can get close enough that it still hurts. Tony hums an agreement.

"I know what you mean." His gaze goes to his family, still a ways off, to Peter, whose eyes are visibly red rimmed, to Steve and Rhodey and Nebula. "I wouldn't change it." He pulls away from her, suddenly brimming with his usual confident swagger. "And not just because changing it would doom the entire universe to Thanos' Libra bullshit." He sweeps a fingers across all the people standing in various places on his lawn. "I wouldn't switch places with any of these fuckers." He jabs it at a man Natasha doesn't remember meeting, stood in a huddle with Rocket and Nebula and a handful of other people. One of which is apparently a tree. "Not even that arrogant little shit, Space Lord, or whatever the hell he called himself." His glasses are gone as he pins her with a look. She doesn't think he took them off. "Which if you think about it, this whole freak show is kinda his fault." He shrugs and quirks his lips. "Did I tell you about that? About how we were this fucking close-"

"Tony." It's not an admonishment but it makes his mouth snap shut. He blows a fake breath through his nose and his lips tremble. When he speaks there are tears in his voice that don't show on his face.

"I wouldn't change it." he repeats,full of conviction. "But shit if it isn't hard." He turns back to the porch. To his daughter, curled into Happy's side.

"I know." she reaches out to touch his wrist, lets her fingers slide into his. "I know." He is shaking and she moves closer. Let's their elbows brush. "We'll watch Tony." She promises. "We won't let her be alone. Any of them."


End file.
